Tickets to London, now what?
 

I found my reasonably priced tickets to London for my family of four and now I need to decide what to do? If you had two weeks, would you spend it all in London or would you take a week and go to Paris? My kids are looking forward to London shopping and sightseeing. Do kids love Paris, too?

yes - Kids love Paris too. As for what to do -- a week in London and a week in Paris is simple and gives you a little time to explore outside of both cities. <BR><BR>But another option and one that would be cheaper and less hectic would be to do the week in London and then a week in a cottage in a village in somewhere like Kent, the Cotswolds or the West Country. This would save you the expense of getting back and forth across the Channel.<BR><BR>Picking a self catering cottage in one of these 3 areas (or any one of a number of others) will put you in an area with literally hundreds of things to do and see within 75 miles or less.<BR><BR>This is great for families since a house is MUCH cheaper than hotels, you can eat some meals in, and you will have a washer/dryer so you can really cut back on the packing. You can find wonderful 2 and 3 bedroom cottages all over for between 200 and 400 GBP per week. That works out to $10 to $20 per person per night.

Leah - It would help to know your kids ages, whether this is your/their first trip to England or to Europe for that matter and the time of year.

This is a 3rd trip to London for the adults, 1st for the kids. Only my husband has been to Paris - and that was when he was 12 years old. We spent two weeks in Italy last year. The kids are 14 and 10

We spent two weeks in Great Britain last summer with our kids. This was the kids second trip to London so we only spent a few days in London this time. However, the favorite places the kids liked this and the previous time were Tower of London, Natural History Museum, Science Museum, and Imperial War Museum all in London. They also enjoyed going to plays at night. Favorite shopping spots were Harrods and Hamleys toy store.<BR><BR>Places we stayed outisde of London started with Bath (4 nights) with day trips to Cardiff (Museum of Welsh Life and Cardiff Castle) and Salisbury/Stonenege (kids loved the cathedral). Kid also really enjoyed the Roman Baths.<BR><BR>We also stayed two nights in York with favorite places being the Railway Museum and climbing to the top of York Minster.<BR><BR>We stayed two nights in Edinburgh and the kids liked Edinburgh Castle and Dynamic Earth the best.<BR><BR>Good day trips from London were to Warrick Castle and Windsor Castle.<BR><BR>Places we stayed that had family rooms were Dorian House in Bath, Four Seasons Hotel in York and Castle View Guest House in Edinburgh. These were all small B&B's and we loved them all. In London we stayed at the Comfort Inn Hyde Park were we had a 3 bedroom apartment. Also stayed at the Thistle Marble Arch where we had reserved a family room but received two doubles with a connecting door. All of these places ended up nice, clean, and convenient.<BR><BR><BR><BR>

Hi Leah,<BR>kids will love the trip to Paris.<BR>1. - take a high speed ferry or cross<BR>the Channel by highspeed train TGV/Eurostar<BR>2. - don't miss the european copy of Disneyland (30km north/east of Paris)<BR>there is also a shuttle bus from Charles de Gaulle Airport if you come by plane, also the TGV train stops at the Disney resorts or the RER(subway) trains from center of Paris.<BR>More info ?<BR>Shain/Germany/D&uuml;sseldorf

Thanks to all for your help. I have a question regarding London and Paris hotels. Do many of the smaller hotels have adjoining/connecting rooms? We are at a stage where we really don't care to share a family room, so we usually get two. Assuming a B&B accepts children, how do the proprietors feel about the kids sharing a room while the parents are in another?

I would think B&B's would have individual policies on children staying in a room alone. The place we stayed in Bath did offer us a room choice that included two rooms instead of one family room. We chose one room because the cost was less. Our kids were 12 and 8 last summer and I know the 8 year old would not have been happy staying alone with his sister.<BR><BR>

Hi Leah,<BR>if you stay at one of the Disney resorts for example, connecting doors are absolutely no problem in all categories.<BR>Also choose a budget hotel like Best Wester, Ibis or Mercure, they do offer this service to, or ask for family rooms<BR>or jr. suites.<BR>If you like to spend more money you will never get a problem except its exhibition time.

I guess you have the choice to do London and then select towns in England for two weeks or vary your experience dramatically. BUT, since mom and dad really haven't experienced Paris, I say go for it. Paris is truely magical and has much to offer both adults and kids. Your's are at a great age to really appreciate it. You could easily do three to four days in each city, combined with three to 4 days outside each city for variety (personally, I'd skip Euro Disney).<BR><BR>Outside of London, I'd do the circuit of Oxford, maybe stopping at Blenheim Palace, then , Cotswolds, Stratford-Upon-Avon, perhaps also Warrick Castle (our kids loved this - a bit younger than yours) Then go to Bath, Windsor Castle and back to London. <BR><BR>Fast train to Paris and then after three to 4 days there, a trip to Brittany or the Loire Valley. Be sure to see Versailles or Fountainbleu.<BR><BR>

I forgot to mention another great place our kids liked: Longleat House and Safari Park near Bath.<BR><BR>If you go to the Loire Valley, I think you'd all enjoy Clos Luce in Amboise. It was Da Vinci's home for a time and includes a fascinating museum of his many inventions.

Just returned from a similar trip. We opted to take the eurostar to paris, and my children (much younger than yours) loved both cities. <BR><BR>In addition to the attractions already mentioned, in London you might consider the London Eye (a gigantic ferris wheel with views over the city), the Museum of the Moving Image, and the London Dungeon. There is a huge video arcade called funland in the Trocadero in Picadilly Circus -- skip the usual video games and head for the virtual reality simulators. (Not very educational, but huge fun). Right now, there's an excellent production of "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" at the Sadler's Wells theatre -- I had no trouble getting tickets from the 1/2 price booth at Leicester Square.<BR><BR>In Paris, of course the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe appeal to kids. Also, there's a tour of the sewers (yuck), a museum of magic in the Marais, a wonderful park called the Jardin d'acclimatation (including a great adventure playground even for the older kids and amusement park rides), and the a fabulous area called La Villette with a very hands-on science museum, submarine . . .<BR><BR>www.timeout.com/london and /paris are very, very helpful.<BR><BR>In Paris, you should be aware that it is difficult to eat dinner earlier than 8:00. My kids had a hard time adjusting.<BR><BR>Also, I had a very difficult time finding affordable connecting rooms in Paris. I ended up taking a family room in Novotel Les Halles, which I cannot recommend. You might try an aparthotel such as Citadines. <BR><BR>Hope this helps.<BR>

Just a couple of comments on earlier posts.<BR><BR>I took my two teens (13 and 15) to Warwick Castle and they had a great time; there's a lot to do there, especially in the summer. Archery exhibitiions, knights in armor riding around, peacock garden, climbing the turrets, a sequence about medieval life put together by Madame Tussaud's (which I believe now runs the place).<BR><BR>The Museum of the Moving Image is closed and will open at a new site in 2006.<BR><BR>The London Dungeon isn't a historic site, as some people expect, but a branch of Madame Tussaud's which seems to focus on everything that was too gross and gory to put in her regular exhibits. After my kids saw their web site, they decided that this was not a good use of their precious days in London! <BR><BR>The kids enjoyed Bath, The Museum of Welsh Life, the Cabinet War Rooms in London, several sites in Greenwich, especially the Cutty Sark, and two special treats: an inner-circle tour of Stonehenge and a medieval banquet at Hatfield House, where Queen Elizabeth I grew up; the banquet is in the hall where she held her first council meeting and the entertainment was outstanding.<BR><BR>The other activity the kids still talk abut was gong on a night-time badger watch with a local naturalist.

Not trying to talk you out of Paris/France - - they are indeed magical - - but you can fly to Portugal, spain, Italy - - from London - - as cheaply (or more cheaply) as you can ride the train to Paris.<BR><BR>Just to confuse you with more options!<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>